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China-Africa: The growing battlefield for digital dominance

By The Africa Report
Posted on Thursday, 11 February 2021 14:40, updated on Tuesday, 16 February 2021 18:51

Technology, particularly that of Chinese telecoms firm Huawei, is a major point of conflict between Washington and Beijing. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

The first wave of telecoms growth in Africa made millionaires – in some cases, billionaires – of investors who bet on Africans spending on mobile phones.

No one is underestimating the potential of the next wave – inter­locking trade, digital money and communications. Certainly not the Chinese, whose technology, communications and finance companies are heavily invested.

Blockchain and cryptocurrency analyst Michael Kimani, doodling on a napkin one day, sketched out the penetration of Chinese companies into East Africa’s mobile internet stack.

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